Image by telwink via Flickr

Texans and others sometimes forget how much the way we talk is shaped by our rural roots. To hear us talk, you might sometimes get the impression that most of us live on ranches or farms, but that is no longer true.

The truth is lots of us live in cities and always have: Houston (fourth largest in the nation), the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso. Many of us, even in small towns, live in apartments. And for whatever reason, sometimes we need to find a new one.

Knowing how we Texans love our cars, and seeing how many, many apartment complexes there are lining the main streets in our urban areas, you might think that finding a new place to live would be easy: Just drive into a likely looking apartment complex and sign up.

But, of course, it is seldom that easy. Maybe you have moved to a new town to take a new job, or to start college or graduate school. For whatever reason, you may not have time to drive around till you find the right place. So, you can always use an apartment locator.

Usually using an apartment locator is just a pleasant experience that saves you lots of time, gasoline, and boredom. Sometimes, though, the apartment locator is a colorful character who talks Texan.

The first time I ever used an apartment locator, I was right out of college. My old college suitemate wanted to share an apartment to save money. Neither of us lived in Houston yet, so she found us an apartment locator to save time.

As style-conscious young women, we naturally wanted to live in a cool-looking complex with all the bells and whistles (or clubs, swimming pools, tennis courts, and beautifully wooded grounds, but our budget was pretty limited. The locator helped us focus on finding a good apartment in a good location. And he contributed a colorful expression that I never forgot.

“You don’t live in Trees,” was his way of saying that the landscaping, private club, and other amenities were not as important as the quality of the apartment itself. It was a colorful Texas-style reminder to focus on what is important instead of getting carried away with superficial glamour.

“You don’t live in trees,” was great advice then, and it still is.

So whenever you are in danger of losing focus on what is important and being overly swayed by superficial features of apartments, cars, jobs—or anything—just remember, “You don’t live in trees.” And besides giving you a smile, it may help you focus on what is important.

It works for me. And now, I hope it works for you.